The University of Oregon and United Academics (UA) resumed the collective bargaining process for a new contract on February 1, 2024. Bargaining sessions will occur every two weeks. Updates will be posted on this page throughout the bargaining cycle.
United Academics represents university faculty, which includes tenure-track and career faculty. The university greatly values the mission-critical work our faculty contribute in support of our academic and research pursuits. As a comprehensive public research university committed to exceptional teaching, discovery, and service, it is our goal to recruit and retain world-renowned faculty that make our institute successful and competitive now and in the future.
Please direct questions and requests for additional information to the bargaining team in Employee and Labor Relations at uoelr@uoregon.edu.
Bargaining Updates
Updates from bargaining sessions with United Academics are provided to keep the UO community informed on proposals and counter proposals, tentative agreements, and other important milestones. Questions and requests for additional information should be directed to the bargaining team in Employee and Labor Relations at uoelr@uoregon.edu.
November 5, 2024
The bargaining teams met on October 31 for their sixteenth session. They exchanged several proposals including a salary counter proposal from the UO bargaining team.
A bargaining update email was sent to UO faculty and staff to share information about the bargaining process and key practicalities that UO contract proposals are based upon:
- Bargaining is a process, and it sometimes takes time to reach agreement.
- UO invests in salary and benefits that maintain competitive total compensation.
- UO financial resources are finite and must support our entire teaching, research, and service mission.
October 2, 2024
The bargaining teams met on September 26 for their fifteenth bargaining session. They reached tentative agreement on Article 4—Unit-Level Policies. United Academics presented information in support of their latest salary proposal, and the parties continued discussions on articles dealing with union rights, career faculty review and promotion, and tenure review and promotion. The proposals page has been updated with the latest versions of each proposed article.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for October 17.
August 27, 2024
Bargaining teams from the university and United Academics held their fourteenth bargaining session on August 26 and continued negotiations on a variety of proposals.
August 13, 2024
The University of Oregon’s bargaining team met with United Academics yesterday with many articles exchanged. The list of proposals is up to date with the latest versions of the articles that were exchanged.
The parties discussed the university’s salary proposal, including important principles that serve as a foundation for the proposal and comparator information that is helpful in contextualizing the university’s offer. The university salary offer was changed yesterday to move the first-year increase to an across-the-board increase rather than a merit increase, which was an expressed interest from United Academics.
The UO bargaining team presented several key considerations that lay a foundation for UO proposals, particularly its latest salary offer:
- The core principles to advance university strategic goals, ensure operational flexibility, offer competitive total compensation, and maintain responsible financial stewardship guide UO's negotiations during this bargaining cycle.
- During this process, we must ensure the institution’s long-term financial sustainability. When comparing the university to the Association of American Universities (AAU) peer compensation data, it is important to recognize that we do not have the same financial resources as those institutions. Refer to the detailed AAU financial resources comparator data for more information.
- While salary is the largest part of total compensation, the university's retirement contributions and health insurance are important components, and they must be considered in any compensation comparison between the UO and our peer institutions.
July 16, 2024
The university and United Academics held bargaining sessions on July 2 and 15, now totaling twelve sessions. The parties reached tentative agreements on three more articles, and continued to negotiate on topics such as unit-level policy development, professional responsibilities, review of career and tenured/tenure-track faculty, and leaves. For a full list of the current proposals and tentative agreements, see our List of Proposals page.
June 13, 2024
The university and United Academics bargaining teams held a bargaining session on June 13. Various topics were discussed, including salary, professional development, assignments, and facilities and support.
The UA bargaining team presented a counterproposal on Article 26: Salary that reasserted their previously proposed salary increase framework and percentages.
The HR website is up to date with the latest proposals and counteroffers.
Sessions have been scheduled in the months ahead to continue bargaining over the summer.
May 23, 2024
The university and United Academics held their ninth bargaining session on May 23. A variety of topics were discussed, including evaluation of tenure-track and tenured faculty, support for research faculty, sabbatical, and facilities. The current proposals and tentative agreements are available on the List of Proposals page.
May 16, 2024
The parties held their eighth bargaining session and exchanged several counterproposals, including an economic proposal presented by the university’s bargaining team. The salary offer the university presented is intended to support the mission-critical work of all of our faculty, and includes new provisions that recognize our limited duration faculty while acknowledging the financial realities that UO faces and our financial position relative to our AAU counterparts. For more information, see our Salary (Article 26) page.
The university and United Academics reached a tentative agreement on Article 11 - Release Time. The current proposals and tentative agreements are available on the List of Proposals page.
May 2, 2024
The parties met for their seventh bargaining session and exchanged several proposals. See the list of proposals for details.
April 18, 2024
At the parties' sixth bargaining session, they exchanged several proposals, including UA's latest counteroffer on salary.
April 4, 2024
The parties held their fifth bargaining session. They presented and discussed several counterproposals and reached tentative agreements on three articles:
- Article 8 - Personnel Files.
- Article 21 - Review Decision Appeals.
- Article 41 - No Strike, No Lockout.
A complete list of proposals is available to help track exchanges between the bargaining teams and will be updated following each session.
March 18, 2024
The University of Oregon and United Academics have been meeting regularly since February to negotiate the terms of a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Although the bargaining process is in its early stages, the parties have exchanged proposals on twenty-five open articles and have begun negotiating salary, which is a topic of keen interest to all. Refer to the offer comparison for details as well as additional information that provides context for the university’s offer presented to United Academics at last Thursday’s bargaining session.
A complete list of proposals is available to help track exchanges between the bargaining teams and will be updated following each session.
February 29, 2024
The parties held their third bargaining session and presented the following proposed changes to the UA collective bargaining agreement. Note: These are the proposals as of 2/29/24; for current proposals, see UA Bargaining: List of Proposals.
| Article | Current Proposal/Counter Proposal | Date Presented |
|---|---|---|
| 4 - Unit-Level Policies | Presented by UO | 2-29-24 |
| 6 - Policies and Practices | Presented by UO | 2-29-24 |
| 8 - Personnel Files | Presented by UO | 2-29-24 |
| 16 - Notices of Appointment | Presented by UO | 2-29-24 |
| 19 - Career Faculty Review and Promotion | Presented by UO | 2-29-24 |
| 21 - Review Decision Appeals | Presented by UA | 2-29-24 |
| 26 - Salary | Presented by UA | 2-29-24 |
| 34 - Caregiving | Presented by UA | 2-29-24 |
February 15, 2024
The parties held their second bargaining session and presented the following proposed changes to the UA collective bargaining agreement. Note: These are the proposals as of 2/15/24; for current proposals, see UA Bargaining: List of Proposals.
| Article | Current Proposal/Counter Proposal | Date Presented |
|---|---|---|
| 3 - Shared Governance | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 9 - Union Rights | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 10 - Dues Deduction | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 11 - Release Time | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 12 - Facilities and Support | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 13 - Health and Safety | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 16 - Notices of Appointment | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 21 - Review Decision Appeals | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 28 - Miscellaneous Benefits | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 33 - Sabbatical | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
| 36 - Professional Development | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 38 - Criminal Records Checks | Presented by UA | 2-15-24 |
| 41 - No Strike, No Lockout | Presented by UO | 2-15-24 |
February 1, 2024
The parties opened bargaining today and presented the following proposed changes to the UA collective bargaining agreement. Note: These are the proposals as of 2/1/24; for current proposals, see UA Bargaining: List of Proposals.
| Article | Current Proposal/Counter Proposal | Date presented |
|---|---|---|
| 3 - Shared Governance | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 4 - Unit-Level Policies | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 6 - Policies and Practices | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 8 - Personnel Files | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 12 - Facilities and Support | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 15 - Classification and Rank | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 21 - Review Decision Appeals | Presented by UO | 2-1-24 |
| 22 - Grievances | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
| 33 - Sabbatical | Presented by UA | 2-1-24 |
The parties agreed to ground rules prior to the first session, and have opened 29 articles and discussion areas that will be covered in bargaining.